Arts & culture in the public realm
The design of the public realm should support the ambitions set out in Ebbsfleet’s Cultural Strategy to support the growth of a strong cultural life in Ebbsfleet. Arts and culture within the public realm can help to establish a sense of identity, a stronger sense of community, a thriving communal life, and a dynamic, inclusive and prosperous economy.
In support of these ambitions the design of the public realm should consider how innovative and site responsive artwork and meanwhile programmes can be developed. While respecting Arts and Cultural Strategies for each development, opportunities should be explored for art which crosses boundaries within the public realm, and may include;
Water attenuation in the urban environment
Play and a playful environment / play on the way opportunities
Community engagement activities
Activating the area through outdoor arts, dance and festival projects
Temporary and ephemeral art through the construction period (refer also to the section on “public realm during construction” and ‘Meanwhile Improvements’).
Street furniture
Lighting the public realm
Initiatives might explore these themes through a range of potentially artist-led mechanisms which could include, but are not limited to:
Repeating motifs colour or light effects
In-setting graphic content into pavements, access covers and service cabinets
Developing trails and sequences of related artworks
Installing large-scale pieces establishing instantly recognisable icons in the urban landscape.
Artist involvement
Artworks should aim to explore Ebbsfleet as the context for new development and to promote the Garden City as an attractive, vibrant and creative area. It may express aspects of the cultural heritage, and design teams should consider both the landscape character set-out within the Public Realm Strategy, and related narratives described in the sister guidance ‘Design for Ebbsfleet’.
Scheme promoters and design teams should collaborate through EDC to ensure artists’ designs are coherent, and compatible in terms of location and content and where possible seek to commission new work which is site sensitive and responds to the immediate public realm and community context. Artist involvement can manifest in many and varied ways, including but not limited to:
Input to design teams and concepts
Embedded or stand alone artworks in the public realm
Lighting strategies
Creative design of temporary boundaries, hoardings, in between unused spaces
Creative community engagement approaches
Artist or Writer in residence
Live outdoor arts such as dance, performance, events
Pop up theatre, film, community gardening
The arts commissioning process is key to successful and sensitive outcomes and should be led by experienced curators or creative producers, in collaboration with designers.
Meanwhile / activation projects
The design of the public realm affords opportunities for temporary creative projects, which reference the local cultural heritage, and can help promote, raise awareness and add value to development. At a basic level, artist’s treatment of hoardings have long been used to stimulate interest, intrigue and enhance the visual amenity of development sites for everyday users.
Project teams should consider the opportunities for artist contributions to temporary site hoardings, boundaries or underutilised spaces, in prominent or long-lived locations as part of a rolling programme of art, consultation and communication. Teams should explore the opportunities of employing an ‘artist in residence’ to contribute to the public realm during construction. The consideration of an artists’ contributions and best value should include an assessment of:
The duration of the hoarding, artwork or intervention
The visual impacts of the work on surrounding completed areas and through routes
The environmental benefits (noise, dust, visual mitigation) it might afford to neighbouring areas
Opportunities for community engagement
Potential for new arts commissioning
